Oral history interview with Lewis L. McArthur

Collection

Identifier: SR 2526

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Lewis L. McArthur was conducted by Sieglinde Smith at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, from January 19 to February 15, 2001, as part of the oral history program at the society's research library. The interview was conducted in five sessions.

In this interview, McArthur discusses his family background and early life in the Green Hills neighborhood of Portland, Oregon; talks about his relationship with and the work of his father, Lewis A. McArthur; and speaks at length about his career in the steel industry at the U.S. Steel Company and at the Ray F. Becker Company. He also shares his memories of the Columbia River before the construction of hydroelectric dams on the river.

Dates

2001 January 19-February 15

Creator

McArthur, Lewis L. (Interviewee, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and the estate of Lewis L. McArthur. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

Biographical note

Lewis Linn McArthur was born in 1917 in Portland, Oregon. He studied economics at the University of California at Berkeley, and served in the U.S. Army in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. After the war, he worked for 40 years as an industrial engineer for the Ray F. Becker Company.

McArthur's father, Lewis A. McArthur, was the author of Oregon Geographic Names in 1928. Though Lewis L. McArthur was not formally trained as a historian, he was most well known for continuing his father's work in studying and compiling the history of place names in Oregon. He served on the Oregon Geographic Names Board from 1958 to 2006, and between 1974 and 2003, he published the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh editions of Oregon Geographic Names. McArthur also served on the state historic preservation committee and the Historic Columbia River Highway State Advisory Committee.

McArthur and Joyce Abigail Clark of Eugene, Oregon, married in 1946. The couple had four children: Lewis, Mary, Sarah, and Susan. Lewis L. McArthur died in 2018 at the age of 101.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (11 audiocassettes (9 hr., 48 min., 16 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Lewis L. McArthur conducted by Sieglinde Smith from January 19 to February 15, 2001. McArthur discusses his early life and his career in the steel industry in Oregon.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Related Materials

Lewis L. McArthur's papers, Coll 854, and several additional sound recordings, SR 62, SR 2608, SR 2955, SR 2956, SR 2957, SR 9469, and SR 11092, are also available at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.